Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:39:51 -0700
From: K_V D <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: Under My Skin - 20

This is a work of fiction. All the resemblances are completely accidental.
Don't read it if you are not supposed to. You know the drill. My e-mail is
ConcertoInD@Gmail.com if you want to tell me something (insults, praises,
and whatnot). Thanks!



				  - VI -



            It was May fifteenth, I'll remember that date until I die. Sam
had to go out of town with Matt for some computer conference so it was just
me and Christy. I missed Sam but I loved spending time with Christy. We
spent almost entire day just sitting on the couch, watching TV, and I swear,
we've gone through at least seven boxes of ice cream.

"Bailey..." I sighed after she finished the last box. "How do you manage to
stay so skinny after you eat shitload of ice cream almost every night? And
it's real ice cream too! Not some fat-free crap..."

"Ugh", she shuddered. "Those things should be illegal!"

"Seriously though", I stretched my legs. "How?!"

   Christy shrugged with a smug look.

"It's a gift", she said. "I got great metabolism from my mom. She eats like
a horse and never gains an ounce!"

   I snorted.

"Right... Mary eats like a horse!"

   Christy looked at me intently.

"Jake", she said. "She has almost an entire pizza every night!"

   I shook my head in disbelief.

"I hate both of you", I said with disgust. "Really, I do..."

   She laughed.

"Why? It's not like you are fat or anything... You look great, believe me."

"Yeah, yeah", I waved my hand. "I know that..." she laughed at that. "But I
would be three hundred pounds by now if I was eating as much ice cream as
you do..."

"Yeah, well", she shrugged. "Weep with jealousy, Summers..."

   I thumped her on the forehead and she winced.

"Speaking of ice cream..." she looked into the empty box and sighed. "We are
out. Let's go get more."

   I stared at her with horror.

"You can't be serious!"

"Come on", she snorted and got off the couch. "Walk will do you good. There
is a gas station like two blocks away from here."

"Bailey..." I groaned when she pushed me off the couch. "Can't we just
vegetate?..."

"We did", she nodded. "All day."

"Ugh..." I said, thinking that she was right. I could feel the couch embedding
into my body by now.

   I sighed and got my jacket.

"Fine", I growled. "Let's go."



   We almost made it to the gas station when Landon appeared from what it
seemed nowhere right in front of us. Christy gasped and took a step back. I
was startled at his sudden appearance. He reminded me of Jack-in-the-Box. He
looked at us thoughtfully and made a small "huh" sound.

"Well", he said slowly. "Aren't you the two musketeers... You know", he shoved
his hands in his pockets. "I was always wondering about you two... I mean,
you always hang out together, always whispering to each other..."

"Get out of here", Christy said in a low voice.

   He shot her a dark look.

"No", he said.

"Are you drunk again?" she narrowed his eyes and he immediately shook his
head.

"No", he answered quickly. "I am not drunk... I stopped drinking ever since..."
he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Christy, I just need to talk to
you..." he muttered.

   I could feel the hatred waking up inside me again.

"Landon", I said evenly. "You are lucky that you didn't get arrested. Or
that I didn't kill you several weeks ago. I would have but they stopped me."

"Oh shut up", he winced. "Summers, why can't you just shut up for a while,
huh? I know why you were so pissed. You are sleeping with her now, aren't
you?"

   I stared at him in disbelief and he laughed bitterly.

"Oh don't look at me like that, Jake! I wasn't born yesterday, you know... I
mean, you are spending every day with her ever since I am out of the
picture! One doesn't have to be a freaking genius to figure out why..."

"Jesus", I shook my head. "Landon, you are an idiot... And a rapist", I added
and his eyes became angry slits. "Get the hell out of our way."

"Screw you", he hissed and looked at Christy. "Christy, I just need to talk
to you, that's all... Please!"

"We have nothing to talk about", she said icily. "Leave me alone, Alex... I
can't even look at you. I hate you!"

"Christy..." he closed his eyes briefly. "Please! I know that I am worse than
any word can describe... I totally fucked up, I am sorry!! I love you,
Christy! I seriously can't function without you!"

"Go away", she said tiredly.

"Christy, please! I swear to God or anything else, I will *never* hurt you!
I swear! Please, just give me a chance, Christy! I'll do anything you want,
just please..."

"Alex", she said softly and I blinked, thinking that if she forgives him
now, she'll be completely out of her freaking mind.

   He looked at her with insane hope in his eyes.

"Alex", she repeated almost lovingly. "Go to hell!"

   I couldn't help but grin at his expression.

"Move it, Landon", I said and he started to shake.

"No", he muttered. "Christy, no! You can't just leave me like that... Please..."

"Leave me alone", she said. "Or I will have to get a restraining order."

"Landon, get the hell out of the way", I said evenly when he just stood
there, blinking rapidly.

"No", he muttered again and I was getting really pissed by now.

"Move", I repeated and shoved him slightly on the shoulder.

   He looked at me and I almost winced when I saw madness in his eyes.
"Jesus", I thought. "It looks like he is about to snap..."

"Let's go, Chris", I said quietly and pushed her behind my back. "Landon, go
get some professional help. You look crazy."

   We were walking away when he screamed in a shaky voice:

"Oh no you don't!! Christy, stop!!"

   I definitely did not like this. Landon sounded downright insane right
now. I couldn't figure out if he really loved Christy, hated me, or it was
all of the above. I didn't really care, to be honest, but the shrill mad
notes in his voice made me pull Christy forward and she looked at me with
scared surprise when I shoved her ahead of me and stopped suddenly.

"Jake what are you doing?" she whispered.

   I turned towards Landon, making sure that Christy was behind my back.

"Landon", I said calmly. "Go home, okay?"

"Oh just shut the fuck up!!" he screamed and I stared at him in disbelief
when he suddenly pulled a gun out of his pocket.

   Oh Jesus Christ! Are you serious? A freaking gun?! I looked at him and
suddenly became so calm that it was almost unreal. I calculated the distance
between us and thought that there was no way in hell for me to get to Landon
before he fires the damn gun if he was crazy enough to do it. I looked into
his eyes and understood that he was just crazy enough.

"Landon", I said quietly. "Put that thing away, will you? This is insane..."

"Shut up!" he barked and aimed the gun at my chest. His hands were trembling
so bad that for a second I thought he'll pull the trigger because his
fingers were dancing a jig.

"Landon", I said very calmly. "Put it away, okay? Do you really want to hurt
Christy?"

   He grinned at me and I had shivers run down my spine because of that
grin.

"No", he said earnestly. "I don't want to hurt Christy. I want to hurt *you*.
See the difference?"

"Alex, this is so nuts!" Christy said in a shaky voice.

   Landon looked at her and his hand lowered slightly. So I decided to take
my chances before I get his full undivided attention again and I lunged at
him. His reaction was so quick that I couldn't believe it. He fired the damn
gun, I thought in astonishment. I literally could feel the bullet flying
through my hair or somewhere really close. I thought that God was probably
having loads of fun right about now and then I slammed into Landon full
speed and we both went to the ground. I tried to push his hands away from me
and I could hear Christy screaming bloody murder by now. She got a very good
set of lungs on her, I thought briefly and then Landon smacked me in the
face hard. I saw stars and I could feel blood trickling down from my
eyebrow. Dammit, he probably cut me with his freaking school ring.

"Help!!!" Christy was screaming. "Somebody help!!"

   I realized that Landon will probably kill me if I don't get that damn gun
out of his hand. I head butted him in the middle of his face and he screamed
when my head collided with his already broken nose. The blood was streaming
down my face by now and I was almost blind because of it. Landon's grasp on
my wrist lessened a little when his nose broke again and I went for the gun.
I grabbed the handle that was warm and slick because of Landon's sweaty
palm, and I tried to pry it out of his fingers. He growled when he realized
what I was trying to do and hit me in the face again.

   This time I became light headed and I could taste blood in my mouth. I
guess my father was right, I thought indifferently. I *will* die in some
dark alley, next to the dumpster. Just as he predicted several years ago
when he found a few of my drawings hidden under my mattress.

   Christy kept yelling and I heard somebody else's voices but somehow it
didn't matter anymore. Landon landed another blow on my face and I became so
dizzy that my ears started to ring and I actually felt nauseous. I grabbed
the handle of the gun and pulled it towards myself as hard as I possibly
could. I could hear someone screaming, I could hear footsteps, and I could
hear police sirens in the distance. And then I couldn't hear anything
because the damn gun went off again and it was louder than I expected. I
think I've gone completely deaf for several seconds and a sarcastic voice in
my head started to laugh hysterically. "Well, isn't this great? Now you are
not just the lost cause or the devil's tool, Jake! You are deaf
*and*freaking blind! Oh! And you are probably shot now too! Isn't this
simply
bloody marvelous?!"

 "Shut up!!" I screamed and Landon's body suddenly went all rigid and the he
howled in pain and then finally I managed to push him off of me. The sirens
were really close by now and I tried to get up but I couldn't because my
entire body was shaking so bad that I couldn't even get on all four, "Oh but
Jake!" Oh Jesus, now it was my mother's voice. "Jake you got shot, honey..."
Honey? My mother *never *called me honey, not even when I was three and I
made a little bouquet of roses that she liked so much, and I gave it to her
as a birthday present . She looked at the flowers and started screaming
almost immediately. "Jake!" she screamed, her eyelid twitching, the vein is
about to pop on her forehead. "Jake! You took those out of my garden, didn't
you?!" Yeah, I knew better after that than to go anywhere close to her damn
garden.

   Christy and somebody else were trying to pull me up and Christy kept
saying something but it sounded like she was really far away. I shook my
head again. I was so sleepy and dizzy that it wasn't funny. All I wanted
right now was to be left alone so I could sleep. I tried to say that, I
tried to tell Chris to let go of me but I couldn't say a single word.
Finally I managed to pull myself away from her and whoever else was trying
to get me up and I collapsed on the ground and everything went dark. My last
thought before I passed out was "Sam..."